SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — Jim Hayton has been fighting off unwanted elk at his Sedro-Woolley farm for four decades and the situation has only grown worse.
"They're unrelenting," he said. "This is their property as far as they're concerned and they'll do what they want."
Hayton has now been charged with a misdemeanor for killing an elk on his own property in 2020, although he said it was an accident. Hayton contends he was trying to scare the herd off his land by shooting in their direction, and hit a calf unintentionally.
"It's my mistake, I freely admit that I made a mistake," he said. "The Department of Fish and Wildlife says we can haze the animals. I called them to tell them what happened."
Elk herds run rampant on Hayton's farm.
He said he was charged by two groups of elk two years ago, forcing him to take shelter under a tractor.
He owns a private landing strip and said the elk have caused several accidents, including one where a plane hit an elk and flipped.
The elk devour Hayton's hay crop, damage bales so they can't be sold and dig ruts in his fields. Hayton said he lost $70,000 to the animals this year alone. This has been going on since 1983.
"The damages since they brought the elk in here are over $2 million dollars to this farm. That's a lot of money," he said.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said about 1,200 elk roam Skagit Valley. The department manages the elk.
In an email to KING 5, a spokesperson wrote, "Since 2016, WDFW has helped build or provided materials for more than 100,000 linear feet of fencing and has spent $775,000 on deterring conflicts with the North Cascades Elk Herd. In certain cases when other methods prove unsuccessful, WDFW has issued damage control permits to landowners allowing them to legally remove elk or to certified Master Hunters to remove elk with access permission from landowners."
The state now wants Hayton prosecuted, but in court documents he said he had an agreement with the Skagit County prosecutor that if he did kill an elk, no charges would be filed against him.
"Obviously, he's kind of forgotten about that because when I shot this one, even though I was not trying to kill an elk that day, they've nailed me on it," Hayton said.
When asked about the alleged agreement, Monday, Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich sent an email to KING 5 stating, "Rules prevent me from commenting on pending cases."
Now, as Hayton walks his fields he sees the well-worn tracks where the elk routinely enter. Fences paid for by the state do nothing to keep them out.
He just wonders how much longer this will continue.
"I'm 77 years old," he said. "Am I gonna have to fight this another 40 years? It's ridiculous."